Initial outdoor performance analysis of different PV module technology

Abstract

This paper presents initial outdoor performance analysis of different PV modules. In this study CdTe, CIGS and Multi-crystalline Silicon technology were tested in outdoor conditions as received from manufacturer. No treatment is given before the testing of the module. I-V translation methodology from IEC 60891 was used to analyse the initial performance of the PV modules at Standard Test Conditions (STC). For all modules, power rating was calculated at STC and frequency distribution of all the power ratings from different observations were plotted using histogram. For each module, the power rating with highest frequency of occurrence was selected and its percentage deviation from the name plate rating was calculated to check initial performance. It was found that many of the modules were not performed as per nameplate value initially at outdoor condition.